Rotary engine.



No. 650,540. Patented May 29, I900. B. LJUNGSTRDM.

ROTARY ENGINE. 7

(Application filed Sept. 26, 1899.)

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Patented May 29. I900.

B. LJUNGSTRUM. ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application filed Sept. 26, 1899.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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No. 650,540. Patented May 29. I900; B. uuues rnbm.

ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application filed Sept. 26, 1899.)

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No. 650,540. I Patented May 29, I900.

I B. LJUNGSTRUM.

ROTARY ENGINE.

. (Appliufion filed Sept. 26, 4899.)

(llo Model.)

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WITNESSES:

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reason the friction during rotation becomes iTnD A BIRGER LJUNesTRoM, or s'rooKnotM, SWEDEN.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 650,540, dated May 29, 1900. Application filed September 26, 1899. Serial No. 731,737- (No model.)

To to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BIRGER LJUNcs'rRoM, a subject of the King of Sweden and Norway, residing at 18 Gref-Magnigatan, Stockholm, Sweden, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a rotary engine, so constructed that the friction of its working parts and the loss of power through vibrations become very small, and that very high pressures of the driving fluid can be employed and as a result its steam consumption is very small, the power developed great, and its rotary velocity can be made very high. The motor belongs to the class of rotary engines already known, which are characterized by possessing a number of cylinders placed radially and symmetrically around a central valve-gear and provided with rollers jour-. naled directly in the pistons and running on a surrounding endless guide of such a shape that the pistons, which are driven outward by the driving fluid and owing to their relative positions and the shape of the guide are perfectly balanced as regards their motion, will be periodically forced in and out, and thus made to rotate the common support or center piece of the cylinders, from which center piece or support the motion is transmitted. In such engines the driving fluid (steam) has been admitted through a pipe into the interior of a cylinder center forming a valve-chest, the said pipe being inclosed in another pipe serving for the discharge of the spent fluid and communicating with a number of slide-valves having their wearing-surfaces on the inside of the cylinder center and in the rotary movement of the latter intermittently shutting off the driving fluid from the cylinders and instead connecting the latter with the exhaust-pipe for discharging the spent driving fluid. This construction, however, sufiers from the disadvantage that the slide-valves are always held pressed by the full pressure of the driving fluid against the inside of the cylinder center, and for this excessive and no great velocity can be given to the motor nor any high pressures to the driving fluid, since too great a wear of the inside of the cylinder center would take place. In

such an engine, moreover, the cylinder center or valve-chest must be provided with a packing at the point where it is in contact with the central discharge-pipe, the friction being thus still further increased. These disadvanta'ges-do not exist in the engine here in question, which is so constructed that the friction is reduced to a minimum, this being accom-- plished partly by making the distributionvalve balanced-'4'. a, of sucha construction that it will not be pressed against the rotating cylinder center and partly by making a packing unnecessary.

. In the accompanying drawings a rotary engine constructed according to this invention is illustrated in Figure 1 in a vertical longitudinal section and in Fig. 2 in a vertical cross-section, while Fig. 3 shows a modified form of the engine in a vertical cross-section,

and Fig. 4 a longitudinal section of the engine provided with a contrivance admitting of adjustment of the slide-valve and allowing of its free vibration.

' d is the center piece or support of the cylinders, which are provided at their bottoms with a slit k, and 9 represents the hollow pistons, having each a roller it running on the surrounding curved guide I), of the kind previously mentioned.

The distribution-valve, according to the present invention, consists of a piston-valve c, which fits steam-tight in the cylinder center d, united to the engine-shaft, and is provided with two axial passages running from each end of the valve and separated at their inner ends, where they are provided with radial slots f f, leading to the outer side of the valve. These slots, of which the set f, leading from one of the valve-passages, serves for the admission of the driving fluid into the cylinders, while the other set, f, discharges the fluid consumed, are located symmetrically in each set or group, and their number is such in each set as to cause them to symmetrically open and close the slits leading to the respective cylinders. By this means the advantage is gained that the valve remains balanced not only during the period when the driving fluid is cut off from the symmetrically-placed cylinders, but also during the portion of a revolution when the driving fluid is admitted behind the pistons, the fric- 4e stance.

tion between the valve and the surrounding cylinder center consequently being slight, so that great velocity can be given to the engine and high pressures of the driving fluid em- 5 ployed without incurring undue wear and leaks of the valve. In order to still further reduce the friction of the valve in the cylinder center, one end of the valve is flexibly connected to the steam-pipe by means of a flexible pipe 19, which enables the valve whichis free at its other end to follow the cylinder center in all its vibrations and in any jar or lost motion due to wear in the journal-bearings, which would not be possible were the I 5 valve supported at both ends.

29 should, as in the engine type described in the beginning of this specification, be composed of equally-shaped curved sections arranged symmetrically around the engine-shaft and in number so corresponding to the number 2 5 of cylinders that the motion of the pistons of the engine will be perfectly balanced and the engine thus be relieved of vibrations to the greatest extent possible.

For lubricating by means of the discharg- 30 ing steam the bearings of the rollers h,located in the pistons and not easily accessible for lubrication in any other manner, the motor is incased in a casing a, into which the said steam is discharged from the exhaust-passage of the valve through perforations m in the surrounding center piece of the cylinders, said steam being allowed to fill the casing and to come in contact with the bearings and then to discharge through an aperture y, for ina support for the curved guide I).

The engine shown in Fig. 3 differs from that described only in being provided with three cylinders, the axes of which form angles of 5 one hundred and twenty degrees with one another. The curved guide I) in this case has three equally-curved sections, and the valve is provided with three symmetrically-placed admission slots or ports f and likewise three exhaust-ports.

To allow of adjusting the central valve about its axis without appreciable friction in relation to the guide I), (for varying the compression or the rate of expansion,) which adjustment is not possible when the valve is connected with the steam-pipe by means of a flexible pipe 1), as in Fig. 1, one end of the v'alve may, as shown in Fig. 4, be connected to one end of a central shaft t', passing through the pipe 0 for admitting the driving fluid by means of a flat cross-piece q, inserted through a slot in the end of the shaft and bearing with its ends against the surfaces behind it in the wall of the valve, so as to be able to rock slightly in its transverse direction, while allowing the end of the shaft to swing perpendicularly to it, the valve by this means being The casing may, moreover, serve asenabled to vibrate slightly with relation to the shaft, which at its outer end is journaled in ball-bearings inra surrounding packingbox 7*, which is journaled so as to admit of the shaft vibrating. The admission-pipe 0 is connected to one end of the valve by means of a pipe 8, surrounding the'shaft z, and the ends of which are connected to the valve and the admission-pipe by means of elastic packings m, allowing of the vibration of the valve, as well as of its ready adjustment. The abovementioned turning of the valve is effected by turning the shaft 75 by means of the handle at its outer end,"which handle may be connected with a governor.

It may be added that a central piston valve has already been employed for effecting the distribution of the driving fluid in rotary engines provided with radial cylinders the pistons of which are guided by a surrounding curved guide; but in such engines this valve has not been completely balanced, because the number of its inlet and outlet ports has not borne such a relation to thecylinders that they have symmetrically opened and closed the slits leading to the latter, nor have the movements of the pistons in these engines been completely balanced, because the sections of the curved guide have not borne a suitable relation to the number of cylinders of the engine. In said engines the valve has not been solocated as to enable of its taking part freely. in the vibrations of the cylinder center, but it has been supported in bearings and has formed the axis of rotati on of said center piece to all factors whichhave contributed to increase the friction, and consequently decrease the effect which the motor has'been desired'to develop by making impossible the use of high steam-pressures and high velocities of rotation with out incurring the risk of serious wear and a speedy destruction of the valve. The connection between the valve and the steam-s11 pply is of a yielding nature-4'. e., it will permit the valve to have vibratory movement-- and any connection which will permit this action is included in these terms, as I do not wish to limit myself to any particular construction.

Having now particularly described and as certained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. A rotary engine comprising a number of cylinders, a casing surrounding the same, a center piece or support on which the cylinders are supported radially and symmetrically, a shaft connected with the supporting piece, said cylinders having bottom slits k, hollow pistons within the cylinders, rollers contained in said hollow pistons, a curved guide for said rollers composed of equallyshaped and symmetrically-arranged curved sections the number of which bears such a relation to that of the pistons that the movemcnts of the latter completely balance each other, and a valve fitting in the center support and having yielding connection with the steam-supply so that it permits the vibration of the valve, said valve having ports f for admittingsteam to the cylinders and ports f for the escape of the steam, the number of said ports being such that they will symmetrically open and close the slits or ports leading to the cylinders, substantially as described.

2. In combination, the casing, the radial cylinders, the hollow center on which the cylinders are supported, the vibratory valve within the hollow center and means connecting said valve and the steam-supply to allow the valve to have vibratory movement, sub- I 5 

